Oaks of Righteousness: Holy Spirit – The Sins Against Him

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The Holy Spirit – The Sins Against Him – Romans 7:7-25 Ephesians 4:17-32

After looking at what the Holy Spirit does in prayer and providence, we turn to look at how our sins affect our relationship with the Spirit.

Opening Question — Get Us Thinking:

When we read the Scriptures and know how sin affects our relationship with God, what do we learn about God? What do we learn about ourselves?

Both the Old and New Testaments speak often of the shortcomings of individuals and nations guilty of sinning against the Holy Spirit. Let’s learn from those examples.

Research Questions — “Dig Deeper” to find God’s Word & Will.

The Spirit is a living facet of the Godhead, He has feelings and a ministry to perform. There are sins against the Holy Spirit and a variety of ways in which we can ignore and/or abuse the Spirit. Previously we have looked at the defiling of the temple of the Holy Spirit, etc. We now look at more ways:

What is the first sin of which we have any record in the early church? Lying to the Holy Spirit -- Lying to the Holy Spirit means to pretend to be something you are not—to go through the motions of living the Christian life without really meaning it in your heart of hearts. In Acts 5 Ananias and Sapphira conspire with one another to deceive the apostles and cause them to think that they were giving all of their possessions to the relieving of the needy in the church. Peter, in Acts 5:3, says that Satan had filled the heart of Ananias to lie unto the Holy Spirit. “These people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me” Isaiah 29:13.

How responsible is the Christian to studying the word of God? Ignoring the Spirit’s inspired Word -- Peter tells us that those who scoff at the Word, deliberately ignoring it, will suffer the consequences, just as those in Noah’s day scoffed at it and were destroyed. (2 Peter 3:1-7). For anyone who has access in any way to the Bible in his or her own language, there is no excuse for ignorance. Before Christ, the Lord overlooked ignorance of His Word among Gentiles, but now requires repentance and obedience on the part of all (Acts 17:30).

Can I read the Bible and get different interpretations, or should I honestly seek what God’s will is? Distorting the Word -- Distorting the Spirit-inspired word means simply twisting it to fit within our own concept of how it should read. Could this be what is behind much of the religious division that exists today? Paul said in Acts 20:30 that men would arise who would distort the truth, in order to draw away disciples after them. Paul affirmed that he never distorted the Word, but set it forth plainly (2 Corinthians 4:2). And Peter said that some fellow Christians distorted the writings of Paul and other Scriptures, to their own destruction (2 Peter 3:16). All of us must receive the Word reverently and with an open heart, attempting to apply it to ourselves without distortion of any kind.

Is it acceptable to be apathetic about the Holy Spirit? Ignoring or denying the Spirit’s presence and work -- Many Christians sin when they do not understand or appreciate the Holy Spirit and His work. Some even deny that He does anything beyond inspiring the written Word. They are like the disciples in Ephesus who did not even know there was a Holy Spirit. When Paul explained the Christian way and entry into it, they were baptized. Then Paul laid his hands on them and they received special powers of the Spirit. These were separate from the gift of the Spirit (His indwelling), which is promised to all Christians upon their conversion (Acts 2:38;19:1-6). These disciples were merely ignorant of the Spirit, so when they had the matter explained, they obeyed Paul’s teaching. Had they ignored his instructions, they would have been denying the Spirit.

What if I don’t feel like doing God’s will, doesn’t he want it to come from the heart? Failing to heed the Spirit’s guidance -- What if Abram had refused to heed the Spirit’s guidance in a pilgrimage to the Promised Land? What if Moses or Joshua had failed to heed the Lord’s instructions? What if Peter had failed to heed the Spirit’s guidance, in the case of Cornelius? The church might have continued for a long period of time as only a Jewish movement. What if Paul had not heeded the vision he received in Troas about Macedonia? The church might have continued for a long period to be an Asiatic movement. Going to Bithynia or the Province of Asia would have generated good for the Kingdom, but the Lord has another agenda for Paul at that moment. He told King Agrippa that he was not disobedient to the heavenly vision he received on the road to Damascus (Acts 26:19). It is absolutely essential to be in tune with the Spirit’s guidance. The Word doesn’t necessarily give us specific guidance in our life’s decisions.

Does it grieve you when people go against you? Why don’t we consider the Holy Spirit’s desires? Grieving the Spirit -- Paul told the Ephesian church, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30-31). Grieving the Holy Spirit means to make sad or sorrowful. In context, 25-32 he explains how the Spirit can be made to grieve when we allow: Bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander, malice, sexual impurity, greed, obscenity, foolish talk to poison our lives or we slander others, we are grieving the Holy Spirit…On the other hand, we are to be kind, compassionate, forgiving each other, just as Christ has forgiven us. We are to imitate God, living a life of love.

Information and relationships influence us. What we respond to when there is a conflict of wills tells us who we truly worship. Are you listening to God? Quenching the Spirit -- Quenching suggests extinguishing a fire. This was the sin of the Thessalonians. In 1 Thessalonians 5:19-20, Paul warned us against quenching the Spirit. This means freezing Him out or attempting to destroy His influence on us. It means putting a damper on His influence, both through the Word and outside of it. It means failure to heed His direction through the Word and in our lives. Therefore, unbelief can certainly hinder the working and moving of God’s Holy Spirit (see Mark 6:4–5). This sin is also committed when the Holy Spirit leads you to do a certain thing (share your faith, pray more, take a step of faith) and you flatly refuse.

What man became an apostle out of the audience in Acts 7? Resisting the Spirit -- The Holy Spirit seeks to speak to the heart of the unbeliever and lead him to God. There are those who are convinced of the truth of the gospel, yet who refuse to yield their hearts to God. In Acts 7:51, Stephen accused the Jewish leaders of always resisting the Holy Spirit, just as their ancestors had done. Resisting the Spirit is actively fighting against His presence, work and Word. It is refusing to allow the Spirit to work in our lives. Does the example of Paul mean that resisting the Spirit can be overcome, and is not an unpardonable sin?

How can one please God and insult the Spirit of Grace? Insult and Disdain the Holy Spirit – This was the sin of the Hebrew Christians in turning away from Christ back to Judaism (Hebrews 6:4-6; 10:26-29). They had “shared in the Holy Spirit” Hebrews 6:4. It is the role of the Holy Spirit to present the saving work of Jesus Christ to the unsaved. A person insults the love of God by saying that he does not really need God’s gift of salvation, or by insisting that Christ’s death on the cross was unnecessary or unable to save him. To resist the Spirit’s appeal is to insult God and to cut off all hope of salvation. “Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?" Hebrews 10:29.

Is there a greatest sin against the Holy Spirit? Blaspheming against the Spirit -- Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is mentioned at least once in the Old Testament and only a few times in the New Testament—Numbers 15:29-31; Matthew 12:31-32, Luke 11:53-54,12:10; 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12, Hebrews 6:4-6, 10:26-29; 2 Peter 2:20-22. This is the most serious offense against the Holy Spirit, (Why?) for there is no forgiveness for the person who commits it. The work of the Spirit is to convict us of sin and bring us to Jesus Christ. To blaspheme Him is similar to insulting, in that we resist His work altogether. This should not be the concern of any Christian, for this is not a sin he can or will commit.

“Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come” Matthew 12:31–32.

Religious leaders have at times used these passages to frighten their followers, or even to consign some to Satan. But what do the above passages really teach? In the first place, blasphemy is normally considered in the Bible to be “evil speaking” against God or God’s people, such as the reviling Jews did against Paul and Barnabas in 13:45 and 18:6. It can be translated as slander (Matthew 15:9, Mark 7:22, Colossians 3:8). Second, the Bible distinguishes between willful and unwillful sin. Willful sin is that which we know is wrong and still do. It is also knowingly speaking against the Spirit and the Word. Jesus said that such behavior is unforgiven. It has eternal consequences. The context here deals with the absolute refusal of the scribes and Pharisees to listen to Jesus and their determined effort to destroy Him. They denied that His power to cast out demons was of the Spirit. It was saying that the Spirit was evil and His motives impure. The multitude baptized on Pentecost had denied Jesus, but once seeing their serious error, repented, were baptized, forgiven and granted the Spirit. Remember Saul of Tarsus ignorantly persecuted Christians, but when he saw his terrible error, he changed his ways. Blasphemy becomes a permanent sin when it is willfully continued, even in the face of the evidence to the contrary. It has been said, “If man’s will declines to bend in repentance, then God’s will declines bending in forgiveness. It is not that God refuses grace; it is that those who blaspheme against the Holy Spirit have hardened their heart beyond repentance.”

Jesus said in Matthew 10:23 “that whoever denies Him, him will He deny before the Father.” In Acts 3:14, Peter accused the Jews of having denied the Holy One. Peter spoke about those who had denied the Lord who bought them, and were worse than infidels (2 Peter 2:1). John said that whoever denies the Son, denies also the Father (1 John 2:22-23. See also Jude 4.).

Conclusion -- The Holy Spirit can be sinned against in many ways, perhaps the most damaging being blasphemy against the Spirit. Claiming miracles that are not miracles is a flagrant sin against the Spirit. So also are ignoring, neglecting or quenching the Spirit. Let us redouble our efforts to understand and rely on the spirit for spiritual guidance.

Reflective Questions for a Response — Live it today.

The Holy Spirit is a person with a will, feelings, and guidance, and is our best guide. Sins against the Holy Spirit are very serious with consequences. Practically what does that mean for you?
I will ... What has the Holy Spirit revealed to you in this study? How will you apply it to your life this week?
How does this equip us to be better disciples and help empower us to “make disciples”?
You can ... Who do you know who needs to hear this?

“Will God ever ask you to do something you are not able to do? The answer is yes--all the time! It must be that way, for God's glory and kingdom. If we function according to our ability alone, we get the glory; if we function according to the power of the Spirit within us, God gets the glory. He wants to reveal Himself to a watching world.” —Henry Blackaby, Experiencing the Spirit: The Power of Pentecost Every Day